Witness offers details of shooting

Tuesday

Jun 10, 2008 at 12:01 AM

STOCKTON - Testifying Monday at a preliminary hearing in San Joaquin County Superior Court, Benny Gray spoke calmly and sometimes too quietly as he recalled the confrontation in February at Louis Park that preceded the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Aaron Kelly.

Christian Burkin

STOCKTON - Testifying Monday at a preliminary hearing in San Joaquin County Superior Court, Benny Gray spoke calmly and sometimes too quietly as he recalled the confrontation in February at Louis Park that preceded the fatal shooting of 13-year-old Aaron Kelly.
Gray said he was at the barbecue along with Kelly's mother, Renee Garcia; her boyfriend, Jonathan Tellez Sr.; and Tellez's son, Jonathan Tellez Jr., among others, when the group was confronted by a gun-wielding man wearing a red bandanna across his face.
Under questioning by Deputy District Attorney Janet Smith, Gray said no one in his group had done anything to initiate the confrontation. The gunman threw gang signs and shouted challenges, Gray said.
"If I didn't know OG homie was out here, I'd do everybody out here," Gray testified he remembered the gunman saying. OG is slang for "original gangster" and refers to an older gang member who might be inactive. Gray did not say in his testimony whether he knew to whom the gunman referred.
It was after the gunman appeared to leave and the families at the barbecue attempted to flee in their vehicles that gunfire erupted, Gray said. Kelly was struck by a ricocheting round and died at Dameron Hospital.
Monday's hearing was to determine whether there is probable cause to try those charged with Kelly's murder: Chanreasmey Prum, 22, Rattany Uy, 17, Deandre Cole, 16, and Michael Andrew Garduno, 19. The hearing is scheduled to continue this morning and Friday.
In addition to murder, the four have been charged with attempted murder, street terrorism and shooting into an occupied vehicle.
If convicted, Prum and Garduno would be eligible for the death penalty. Though Uy and Cole are being charged as adults, the maximum penalty they face is life imprisonment.
Garduno said in an interview with The Record in March that he was innocent, a victim of circumstance guilty of nothing more than accepting a ride from Prum.
On the night of the shooting, Jonathan Tellez Jr. was booked into the San Joaquin County Jail on suspicion of firing a weapon that night. He still is in custody at the jail on a variety of charges and is being held without bail.
Contact reporter Christian Burkin at (209) 546-8279 or cburkin@recordnet.com.

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